


ETERNAL HUNGER - VOLTA'S BACKSTORY

by GaiaDiPa



Category: The Arcana (Visual Novel)
Genre: Backstory, Blood and Injury, Minor Character Death, Violence, alternative universe, mention of religion
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-23
Updated: 2020-12-23
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:28:04
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28262379
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GaiaDiPa/pseuds/GaiaDiPa
Summary: Florence, 15th century. The once powerful Volta family is in despair, all its autorithy is gone and a conspiration is taking shape in the shadow. After a night of violence and blood, Caterina Volta, youngest member of her family, is the only survivor. She has to make a hard choice in order to save her own life...a choice that will change everything. Forever.
Kudos: 2





	ETERNAL HUNGER - VOLTA'S BACKSTORY

**Author's Note:**

> Volta is a character from The Arcana, by Nix Hydra, so I don't own her or any of the characters mentioned.   
> "The end justifies the means" written at the beginning is a quote by Nicolò Machiavelli, an italian author who lived during the 15th century and wrote many books about what a good governor should do.

Caterina Volta woke up in the middle of the night, head spinning at the sound of the mayhem going on near her family's palace. Someone was screaming at the top of his lungs, guards were running everywhere, she heard clangorous footsteps outside her door, the sound of unsheathed weapons becoming more and more persistent. Sadly, she knew perfectly well what was happening. Florence had never been a quiet place, but lately it was a total mess, and her family was right in the eye of the storm; _the end justifies the means_ , as someone would say, and in that city there were _plenty_ of people ready to kill for power, including her parents. One thing lead to another, and soon enough the fight for the control of Florence had become really brutal, the most influent families were always battling, and Caterina had already lost both her uncles and all cousins. No wonder they were next. Somehow, she managed to get a grip and mentally prepare for the inevitable; she had never questioned her family's lifestyle before that moment, but still, the girl couldn't avoid thinking that it was an awful way to die. On a second thought, it wasn't just awful. It was simply _unacceptable_. After all, she didn't have nothing to do with those feuds. God knew her only fault was being born in that family, she didn't have a saying in politics or stuff like that. Suddenly, Caterina felt angry, and very, _very_ indignant.

Just when rage was starting to build inside her heart, her chaperon came, opening the doors of her chamber, her whole face red like she had just finished a marathon, and probably it was true, considering that her only assignment was to protect the girl's life at all costs. _"Time to go, Milady"_ , was the only thing that she muttered, exhausted, before pulling Caterina by the arm. The youngest of the Volta siblings didn't have the time to protest, although she needed to know where their relatives were, if they were alive or not; armors and weapons were scattered all around the corridors of the palace, and in her rush the lady peered at some worrisome spots of blood. **_Was it her brother's blood...?_** She was about to ask to the maiden, when a dreadful scream interrupted her flow of thoughts. She could have recognized that voice everywhere. Her sister was being brutally murdered upstairs. Caterina froze in her steps. She felt like the whole world was falling apart at her feet. But there was no time. Her chaperon moved her by force, running towards a hidden exit. The two finally made it out of the palace. Nobody was there. No enemies. No carriages that could be useful to flee, either. _ **Something was off.** "Shouldn't be a carriage here?"_, dared to ask Caterina, shaking. And then the inevitable happened. Enemies appeared out of the blue. Weapons everywhere. Pain. Screams. Caterina Volta tried to escape, to defend herself, in vain. They hit her multiple times, her whole body aching. She cried for help, even begged. But nothing worked. Then a veil of darkness fell upon her. The last, desperate words she managed to say were a prayer to God, hoping that her soul would be spared.

Caterina woke up for the second time, suffering. There wasn't a single spot in her body that didn't hurt, or bleed. Her vision was blurry, and her left eye was injured. Or, better to say, _permanently compromised_. She simply couldn't see a thing. That partially relieved her. She didn't want to know, to see the horror that was probably happening around her. Also, she was confused. _**How the hell did she manage to survive? Was her even alive, first of all? Was it a dream? A vision, maybe? Where was she? A grave? A prison?** _Caterina couldn't tell. She only knew that it was all dark, and incredibly cold. Suddenly, she realized that probably a long time had passed since her fainting. She felt skinner than usual, weaker and hungry. She wanted something to drink, and eat. Desperation took control. She was trapped in some mysterious place, without any hope to escape. She didn't even know if any other member of her family was still alive, nor where the enemies were hiding after the attack, she was clueless. She tried to recall her last memories: she surely had been unconscious for days, but there were some images stuck in her mind; there were crosses and crosses, like in a graveyard, and she clearly remembered someone talking about death... _her own death._ All the pieces fell into place, more or less. People thought she was dead, so she was taken to a secluded place. _**But where?**_

Weeks went by, and Caterina started panicking. She was literally starving. She even tried to eat off the leather of her shoes, but it was disgusting. She screamed all night long (or what she thought was nighttime, since there was only darkness around her), but no one came. She knew that soon or later she'd be dead, and her only hope at that point was to be graced by some superior entity of any kind. Prayers simply didn't work. And there was no exit in that place, how she realized after hours and days of research. And on top of that, she had found some bones here and there. While she was torturing herself over these thoughts, she felt a presence behind her, it was like something _-or someone-_ has entered her cell, or whatever it was that tiny room. Frightened, she turned her back. Only to face the Devil himself. Volta wasn't surprised. Disappointed and scared, maybe, but not surprised. There were tales and rumors about people meeting the Devil in point of death, and she strongly believed that it was only right to see someone so wicked in a gloomy place like that. It made sense. Despite this, though, she couldn't repress a gasp of horror. " _I'm going crazy"_ , said to herself, a bit too loud.

The imposing, vicious goat smiled. _"Oh no, my dear Volta. No need to be so dramatic. Who did you expect? Don't worry. I'll help you."_ That smile was the creepiest thing Volta had ever seen and she knew very well that The Devil only meant trouble. **_But...it was her last hope_**. And she was _so hungry. "Please! Please please please, I'm starving, I want to eat!"_ cried Volta, throwing herself at The Devil's feet with her remaining strength. Hunger was the only thing that she could think about. The Devil laughed. _"You'll be fed. And in exchange... you'll be my assistant. Do we have a deal?"_ Volta didn't even bother to respond, she just nodded furiously. In a minute a thick, heavy and red fog sorrounded the poor girl, who started coughing, unable to see what was happening. Hot chains were wrapped around her body. The minute after Caterina Volta, daughter of one of the most powerful men in Florence, gracious and pious lady, didn't exist anymore. In her place there was just Volta, the insatiable and immortal demon. The Devil, tricky as always, had kept his word. Volta had been _fed. **But not satiated.**_


End file.
